Hot Zone
by AngelicDragons
Summary: The next story in the Unintended Consequences universe. An old friend of Sam needs official help from NCIS. This brings the team to face to face with with terrorist with a most fearful weapon.
1. The Calm

**This is in the 'Unintended Consequences" universe. I've been sitting on this story for two months. I've got a couple of chapters written, but I don't have it finished. I've got the outline of the story together, but not the conclusion. Nothing case related happens in this chapter but it a case does happen.**

**I'm hoping that publishing the first chapter will get me motivated to finish this the correct way. I also hope everyone likes it. The readers here are so supportive, you deserve good stories to read.**

Callen walked into the Mission an hour early. As he set his stuff down on his desk he thought he heard noise coming from the gym. He couldn't imagine who on earth was in this early in the morning. As he walked into the gym he was surprised by the sight he saw. Deeks and Kensi were practicing with the shock knives. They weren't just sparing, they were really going at. Kensi looked like she was really trying to hurt Deeks. What surprised him even more was that Deeks was not just holding his own but getting in some really good strikes. Apparently Kensi had been training him for quite some time and he had been paying attention.

"Four times a weeks for three months, not counting his time down from the shooting."

Callen almost jumped out of his skin. He should be used to Hetty sneaking up on him by now. To cover his shock he decided to ask the next logical question. "Three months? How have none of us noticed?"

"Because they don't normally go at it this long. They get here at 7 AM and they are done by 8:30. They shower and show up in the bullpen a little after 9. However something appears to be bothering Kensi this morning. They obviously lost track of time."

"Wait, they've been going at it like this for ", Callen looked at this watch, "an hour?" Callen was very impressed.

"No, not knife fighting for an hour. They started out working on the bag and then the dummy. This started about 20 minutes ago."

That's when Sam, Nell, and Eric walked into the gym.

"Holy crap." Sam exhaled. "What has Kensi been teaching Deeks?"

Nell and Eric didn't say anything, they just stared at the two agents wide eyed.

"I don't know," Callen answered, "but there is no way I'm going to get in the middle of a domestic disturbance of that magnitude." With that Callen turned around and headed for the exit. Sam followed him through the door. Eric and Nell practically flew through the door to avoid the uncomfortable situation. Hetty stayed for a few moments longer then turned toward the exit herself.

The two combatants didn't notice the audience's arrival or exit. Each one was far too focused on the task at hand. Deeks made a thrust at Kensi. She blocked it wide, stepped into him, and flipped him with a hip check. As he laid on the floor, dazed, she put the knife to his throat.

"One dozen even." She smiled broadly.

"I can't believe I was dumb enough to agree to a donut per point match with you. That is the last time I answer a question while showering."

Kensi stood up helping Deeks from the floor. "It not my fault you weren't paying attention to what I was saying."

"It's totally your fault I wasn't paying attention to what you were saying." Deeks looked at her with astonishment. "How can you even say that?"

Kensi just let out a laugh. "Go get showered killer. We are running late. Everyone is going to be in by the time we get finished."

Deeks walked over pulling Kensi into him, dropping kisses on her neck.

"Separately Deeks. We are showering separately." She said pulling his hands away from her.

"Seriously? You kick my butt all over the gym, win a dozen donuts, and I can't even get a kiss? That's harsh Kens. Harsh."

Kensi picked her towel up off the bench. As she walked toward the women's locker room she threw a little extra sway into her hips. "You're a big boy Deeks. You can take it."

XX

As Deeks and Kensi walked into the bullpen they could feel Callen's and Sam's eyes on them. Both men waited for them to sit at their desk before beginning their interrogation.

Sam turned to Deeks. "What did you do?"

"Huh?" Deeks was genuinely confused.

"We come in this morning to find Kensi beating on you like you took a Twinkie. What did you do to make her mad?"

"I'm not mad." Kensi defended herself.

Callen leveled a glare at Kensi. "So you always beat Deeks like that?" He then turned to Deeks. "Do you need to go into protective custody?"

Kensi and Deeks started laughing. Deeks was the first to speak. "What you saw was mistake on my part. Kens wanted to put a bet on the sparing match. A donut per point ahead, first to fifty wins."

Callen was slack jawed. "You motivated Kensi, in a fight, with donuts?"

"Are you suicidal?" Sam couldn't believe it.

"I admitted it was a mistake."

"No." Sam wasn't buying it. "That hair do is a mistake." He pointed to Deeks's head. "G's diet is a mistake. Going against Kensi with sweets on the line is one of the seven classic blunders, the most famous of which is don't get involved in a land war in Asia."

"Touché." Deeks said, then pointed a finger at Kensi. "Don't do it."

Kensi just smiled at him. "I have no idea what you are talking about."

XX

Nell looked around OPS to be sure no one was to close by, before saving her work and turning to Ashley. "So how's it going with G?"

"It's only been a couple of dates Nell. We are still feeling each other out." Ashely didn't look away from her screen.

"Feeling them out is the best part of the relationship." Nell cast a glance over to Eric who was busy doing something else.

Ashley felt the blush spread across her face. "NELL! It's not like that."

"Then you need to try harder. You are going to have to be the driving force in the relationship. Callen has had a hard life. Trusting people and moving forward in relationships aren't his strong points. That's where you are going to have to be the strong one."

"I know Nell, but I don't want to pressure him either. I want him to be in the relationship because he wants to, not because I've brow beat him into it."

Nell looked at Ashley. "I don't mean brow beat him, Ash. I mean you take the first steps to move toward him. That will encourage him to move toward you."

"Wow Nell. You've been spending too much time in the field. You make it sound like an operation."

Nell just laughed. "I'm going to take that as a compliment. Also, the fact that you recognized that means you are spending quite a bit of time around agents, or a specific agent, yourself."

Ashley sat there quietly for a moment, thinking. "What should I do Nell? I don't want to spook him." Ashley stopped for a second. "Wow. That sounds funny. He's one of the bravest men I've ever met and he never loses his cool, but I'm afraid of his reaction to me telling him how I feel."

"I don't think you are going to spook him. Just go with your instincts. You got him to go out with you. That puts you ahead of every woman that's tried in the last five years."

"Yeah, cause going with my instincts always works out so well." Ashley rolled her eyes.

"What? Are you talking about how everything turned out with the NSA? Actually it did work out well. You got a new job, a lot of friends, and a hunk of burning love." Nell just beamed at her last comment.

"Really Nell, Elvis?" Ashley couldn't help but giggle.

"Deeks drove this weekend when the four of us went up the coast. He put it on the Elvis radio station for the entire trip. He wanted to show Kensi how he felt when she listened to techno all the time. Eric and I were innocent bystanders in their vicious radio war."

Ashley just laughed. "I'm sorry."

"You have no idea."

XX

Sam, noticing Kensi's absence in the bullpen, decided to take the time to comment on what he had seen earlier in the morning.

"I have to say I'm impressed with your fighting skills, Deeks." Sam said sitting at his desk. "Kensi's training has really improved your technique. I mean you had the MMA stuff down, but the knife work was, well, scary."

"It better be. She may love me, but she doesn't cut me any slack. If I hadn't gotten better I would have ended up in the hospital. She claimed she was taking it easy on me, but when I laid down at night, my body didn't believe it."

Callen and Sam both chuckled.

"After a few days, she pulled out those shock knives. That's when I got really motivated. Did you know that she can hit the same spot repeatedly? She doesn't even realize it, just a product of her training. She hit me so many times in the left side that I got a burn mark. That's when I had to up my game. I didn't start winning, but I didn't go home with burn marks anymore."

"That's why I sparred with Michelle exactly once." Sam said and then went back to his laptop.

"Oh, no." Deeks turned in his chair. "You don't get to start a statement like that and then just stop. Why just the one time?"

Callen answered the question. "Michelle cheats. She faked injury from his second punch. When he walked over to check on her, she swept his legs, put him in an arm bar, shoved his face into the mat, and then choked him out."

Deeks howled. "She choked you out? Man! That is hardcore. I thought Kensi was abusive, but that is just mean."

Sam just shrugged his shoulders. "What can I say? The woman does not like to lose."

Callen looked at Deeks. "You should have seen what she did to the parent that belittled their girl at a baseball game."

"What?" Deeks looked back and forth between the two men.

"Hey! She was provoked. I told you, you can't talk about another person's child like that and not expect consequences." Even if G had a point, he couldn't let statements about his wife go unchallenged.

"Sam, it was little league baseball. Heckling is part of the game." Callen just shook his head.

"That's our little girl that was being heckled. She just did what she had to do to get her point across." Sam went back to typing on his keyboard.

Deeks shot a questioning glance at Callen since he obviously wasn't going to get the story from Sam.

"She choked out another parent in front of both teams. The police were called. The only reason she didn't get arrested is because he threw the first punch, but she started the argument."

If he hadn't seen her in the field, Deeks would have thought that both men were messing with him. But after seeing Michelle in action and the serious looks on both men's faces, he not only decided he believed them, but to also drop the conversation.

XX

Kensi walked into OPS. "Hey guys."

"What's up Kensi?" Ashley greeted.

"Hey Kensi." Nell said.

"What brings you to our humble abode?" Eric asked.

Kensi pointed her finger at Nell. "She does." Kensi turned to face her fully. "You need to hit the firing range today if you are going to stay current. Hetty asked me yesterday to make sure you went by the end of the week."

"Crap! I completely forgot. I've been buried under the analyst of the data from the last case." Nell stood from her station. "I certainly can use the break."

Ashley let out a soft laugh. "Shooting things as a break. I should look into becoming an agent."

"You don't have to be an agent to shoot Ash. Just let me know and I can take you down." Kensi turned to Nell. "Come on. Fifty rounds to warm up and then fifty to qualify." Kensi waved her arm to follow as she walked out of the room. Both women descended the stairs and made their way through the armory and into the shooting range.

Nell walked over to the bench and picked up her Glock. Everyone else carried Sigs, but the smaller Glock fit her hands better. They all ran the same ammo, so it didn't matter anyway.

"Care to make a wager?" Kensi asked as Nell walked up to the shooting line.

"No way. I saw you kicking Deeks's butt this morning. I don't know what he did, but you aren't going to take it out on me."

"Geez, did everyone enter the gym today? I can't believe I didn't notice."

"Well you were pretty intent on beating the crap out of Shaggy. What did he do?"

Kensi let out a laugh. "He didn't do anything. We were sparring for points. First to 50 won. I beat him by an even dozen. So know he owes me a dozen donuts."

Nell set down the unloaded pistol on the firing line and began laughing uncontrollably. "He fought you for donuts? Is he insane? What did you do, distract him with your feminine wiles?"

Kensi felt her face begin to go red so she screwed on her agent face hoping Nell wouldn't notice.

Nell stopped laughing. "What did you do Kensi? You just threw on your agent face." Nell stared at her for a moment. "You didn't?"

"What?!"

"You did!" Nell said pointing her finger. "You should be ashamed of yourself. Taking of advantage of him like that."

"Why? He's a big boy. He can take it." Kensi smiled slyly as she turned, picked up her Sig and started sending bullets downrange.

"You know, you could let him win occasionally." Nell reloaded her pistol.

Kensi set her Sig down on the little range table. "Let him win? Never!" Kensi started laughing.

XX

Lunch rolled around so Callen walked upstairs to OPS. When he walked in he saw everyone working really hard at whatever techy thing they were working on at the time. He walked up behind Ashley. He deliberately wasn't quiet so as not to scare her.

"Got time for lunch?" He bent down to be next to her head.

Ashley turned around in her chair. "That depends, double 0 G, where are you taking me?"

Callen sighed at the nickname. He liked that she had given him one and felt comfortable enough to call him by it, but he knew when it got out, Sam and Deeks were going to have a field day.

Ashley immediately put her hand over her mouth. "Sorry, Callen. It slipped out."

He just laughed. "Don't worry about it. I was thinking Chinese."

"Chinese? I definitely have time for lunch." Ashley turned around to lock her computer but stopped. "Wait, I thought today was lunch with the team?"

"Sam has a meeting with Hetty. Frick and Frack are taking Monty for his shots. So it is just us." Callen turns to look at Nell and Eric. "Unless you two want to join us."

"Sorry Callen. I have to get this finished and sent back to DIA before I leave for lunch." Eric responded.

Nell looked at the couple. "Oh no. I'm not going as the third wheel. You two have fun."

Callen turned back to Ashley. "An intimate lunch date it is then." Callen spun the chair to help Ashley out. They made their way down the stairs and out of the Mission.

"A meeting with Hetty? Is that good or bad." Ashley closed the car door.

"Could be anything. If it's important Sam will let us know. From time to time we get put in solo assignments. Nobody likes it, but it happens. A couple of years ago, Sam was working in Africa for a month before we knew what was going on. We thought he was doing training with SEAL buddies." Callen explained.

"Wow! Guess I'm going to have to get use to not always taking things at face value."

Callen took his hand from the ignition without starting the car. He turned to face Ashley. "Ash, I can't promise that I will always be able to tell you what is going on, but I won't lie to you."

Ashley let a smile come across her face. "I know G. I know."


	2. Darkening Skies

**Here is where the case starts. Right now it's looking like this might be a shorter story than my others. I'll have to see where it goes.**

**Thank you everyone for your interest and comments.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own NCIS:LA.**

* * *

Sam walked into the boat shed to find Granger, Hetty, and Navy Captain Frank Wright sitting at the table.

"This can't be good." Sam said taking in the scene.

"Thanks for coming Sam." Granger said looking up. "I believe you know Captain Wright."

Sam walked over to Wright, holding out his hand. "Yes. He was my LT in the SEALs. Hello, Sir. I would say it's good to see you, but you don't look happy."

"Regardless of the circumstances, it's good to see you Sam." Wright took the offered hand. "Unfortunately this isn't a social call."

Sam just nodded his head. Being the only one here was giving him a bad feeling. This was what happened right before an agent got sent off on their own to the middle of nowhere.

"Relax Mr. Hanna." Hetty, as always, knew what Sam was thinking. "The entire team will be briefed on what we are about to hear. Captain Wright requested you to be here."

Sam could feel the tension leave his shoulders. "What's up?"

Wright began is presentation. His tablet was already wired into the big TV screen. Pictures appeared at each tap of the tablet.

"This is Dr. Matthew Monroe. He is a top chemical engineer for USAMRID. He has a top secret clearance along with several special access only clearances. For the last year, Dr. Monroe has been cataloging and destroying chemical weapons and their component parts seized from countries in the Middle East."

"Seized?" Granger raised an eyebrow.

Wright set the tablet on the table. "What I'm about to tell you isn't just classified, it never happened. It violates treaties, international law, and, depending on who you ask, federal law. When certain countries in the Middle East became unstable, special forces groups were sent in to secure and remove WMDs before they fell in the wrong hands."

"Why remove them?" Sam asked. "Just blow them in place."

"It was deemed too risky to destroy them in place. Contamination and verification of destruction being the major concerns. Instead they were seized, secured, and transported to Dugway Proving Grounds for destruction. There, Dr. Monroe led the team that was ridding the world of these weapons." Wright picked the tablet back up. "Two weeks ago, Dr. Monroe, his wife Christie, and their 16 year old daughter Amanda disappeared from their home. The home itself was burned to the ground to destroy any evidence we may have found. At the time of the family's disappearance, roughly 200 lbs of chemicals needed to produce Sarin gas were also removed from Dr. Monroe's lab."

"So what are you thinking?" Granger wanted to know.

"We believe that Dr. Monroe's wife and daughter were taken and used as leverage to force him to steal the components. He stole components because all the active weapon material has been destroyed. It's also possible that it is a play for time. Whoever is doing this will need him to create the Sarin gas before getting rid of him or his family."

"Why are you telling us?" Hetty inquired.

"Communications have been intercepted, emails and cell phone, from the LA area discussing creation and delivery for an event. We believe the doctor is here along with his family. That's all we have, based on very slim intelligence. We don't have a group name or structure. We don't have targets. Other than the missing components we don't even have a threat. We need your help. It's your city. We came to NCIS because you understand the delicate nature of what is happening here. If we go to FBI, ATF, LAPD, or anyone else this will be on the six o'clock news. That's one of the reason's I'm here personally. After the NSA leaks a month ago, the Admiral didn't even want this over secure communications. A SEAL team and containment group have quietly been moved into the LA area. They are on immediate standby incase anything is found."

"I have to ask." Hetty pointed to the pictures on the screen. "How did the family go missing with no one noticing? I assume there are standard security protocols."

"The wife and daughter were thought to be visiting relatives in South Carolina. After the doctor went missing and the fire, the relatives were contacted. They have had no contact with the family for several weeks."

"So the wife and daughter have been missing longer than the doctor?" Sam wanted to be clear.

"Yes."

"How much longer?" Hetty asked the next logical question.

"That we aren't sure about."

"You don't have much to go on, Captain." Granger was used to being behind the eight ball, but this was ridiculous even for him.

Wright let out a sigh. "Yes, sir. We know. We aren't even sure how they contacted the doctor yet. All his electronic equipment was destroyed in the fire."

"Even so, can we get the damaged devices? I would like to have them to go over." Hetty had the utmost respect for the Special Forces community's people, but there weren't Eric and Ashley.

"Absolutely. I'll get them here immediately." Wright nodded his head toward Hetty.

"Is there anything else you can tell us?" Sam wanted to be sure he hadn't missed anything.

"Not that I know of." Wright reached into his breast pocket pulling out a portable hard drive. "This is everything we know. Even the stuff that didn't actually happen. It's encrypted and at the conclusion of this operation should be destroyed."

Wright set the drive on the table in front of Hetty, Granger, and Sam. All three just looked at it.

"Oh, good heavens." Hetty exclaimed reaching out for the object as she narrowed her eyes at the two men. "It isn't going to bite."

As they stood up to leave Hetty looked at Owen and Sam. "I hope everyone enjoyed their lunch. It appears it will be a while before we get another good meal."

* * *

Kensi and Deeks were the last to arrive back at the Mission after Eric sent out the alert call. One look at the empty bullpen and Nell standing at the bottom of the stairs instantly set Deeks on edge. He began patting his hands all over his body. "Oh crap. Have I been shot again?"

Both Nell and Kensi gave him withering glares, but Kensi did refrain from punching him in the shoulder. It seemed like a really good idea, but she didn't.

"If you don't hightail it up to OPS, you might be." Nell spun on her heel and marched up the step.

Kensi shot another narrowed eyed glare at Deeks. "That was not funny Marty. You have been shot more than anyone else on the team and have been a member for the shortest. Do not joke about getting shot." She turned to follow Nell up the stairs.

"This cannot end well." Deeks followed the two women up the stairs.

Deeks noted all the somber faces as he entered OPS. He took his spot beside Kensi. His sense of concern increased when Hetty started giving the briefing rather than Nell.

Hetty pointed to the three pictures on the screen. "This is Dr. Matthew Monroe, his wife Christie, and daughter Amanda. Dr. Monroe is a specialist in chemical weapons at Dugway Proving Grounds. For the last year he has been disposing of seized chemical weapons. As of two weeks ago, Dr. Monroe, his family, and several hundred pounds of chemical agents have gone missing from Dugway. The Monroe's house was destroyed by fire around the same time. It is believed that the doctor's family is being held hostage to force him to steal the raw materials for and then create Sarin gas. It is believed that the family is being held somewhere in the LA area. It is also believed that the Sarin gas attack will take place in the LA area. There is no time frame for the attack."

"Is there any good news?" Deeks asked hopefully.

"No. This is all bad." Granger fielded the question. "We have no starting point. No target. We aren't even sure who took him. We are two weeks behind whatever they are planning. Including the time to travel here and set up a lab, he could have already completed the process of creating the toxin."

Everyone noticed Nell put her hand to her ear piece and step off to the side. It was unusual for her to take a call in the middle of a briefing but not unheard of. Everyone had turned their attention back to Granger when Nell's voice rose.

"You what?! Hold on, I'm putting you on speaker, please repeat what you just said."

The speakers in OPS came to life and a voice came flooding into the room. "This is Staff Sargent George Lendel. I am a recruiter for the Marines in downtown LA. A mother and her daughter just entered our office claiming they have been kidnapped and held by terrorist. I called my superior. He contacted NCIS who said there was a missing persons on the two women and transferred me to you."

"What are their names Sargent?" Sam asked.

"Christie and Amanda Monroe."

"Are they still there?" Callen asked.

"Yes, sir. They are sitting in the break room now."

"Sargent, close your office. Remove anyone who isn't active military. My same is Agent G Callen. I will be there in the next half hour. Don't let anyone in that office until I get there. Are you armed?"

"We have weapons in the safe."

"Get them. You shoot anyone that comes through that door."

"With all due respect, sir, you don't have the authority to give an order like that."

"This is Assistant Director Owen Granger, NCIS. I do have the authority to give that order and it is given. If you have any questions about those orders, you contact your direct superior, I will be calling him shortly."

"Yes, sir. We will secure and wait for Agent Callen." With that the line went dead.

"Let's go." The team raced from OPS to retrieve the wife and daughter.

* * *

The drive to the recruiter's office looked like some sort of street race. Kensi and Sam flew through traffic at twice the recommended speed limit and no concern for safety or traffic laws. They arrived at the recruiting office in twenty minutes.

Callen jumped from the Challenger, sprinting toward the door. He pulled his badge from his belt and placed it against the glass. "I'm Agent Callen. Let me in."

The Marine standing behind the desk rose and opened the door.

"Are you Sargent Lendel?" Callen asked.

"Yes, sir."

"Where are the two women?"

"This way sir."

The team followed the Sargent to a small room in the back of the offices. There they found them, each holding a coke, and staring at the floor.

"Mrs. Monroe? I'm Agent Callen, NCIS. I'm here to get you to a safe location. Can you tell me how you got here? Where is your husband?"

The woman looked up from the floor at Callen. You could see that it was taking her some time to process the question. "Where are we?"

"You are in Los Angeles."

She nodded her head, but Callen wasn't sure if she was actually paying attention.

"How did you get here, Mrs. Monroe?" Callen tried again.

Her eyes snapped to his. "Matt set a fire. To act as a distraction and destroy the chemicals. Maybe kill them, too. The entire building was in flames. We jumped through a broken window. We were looking for a police officer. Amanda saw the Marine sign, so we came here." Christie closed her eyes. "Matt didn't make it. He fought with one of them, because they saw us go out the window. I saw the explosion that killed him." Christie hugged her daughter tighter.

Sam walked out of the room. "Eric, Ash. Have there been fires this morning? Any that is still burning near this location?"

Ashley responded first. "There is a fire at an empty office complex nine blocks south of your current location. Started around an hour ago."

"Inform the responding units that it might be a HAZMAT situation. Contact Captain Wright and tell him we think we found the location of manufacture. We are going to be bringing back the mother and daughter shortly."

Sam returned to the room just in time to see Callen help her from the chair. He turned to the Sargent. "These ladies were never here. If anyone comes asking about them, deny everything and call me." Callen handed over a card. "We are taking them to a secure location."

Deeks and Kensi headed for the front door to check the street. After verifying everything looked normal they signaled to Sam and Callen. The men helped the two women out of the office and into the back of the Charger. Sam and Callen then got in the Challenger to follow Kensi back to the boat shed.

"We are on the way back with the mother and daughter. The mother says Dr. Monroe deliberately set the fire to give is family a chance to escape and destroy the chemical compounds." Callen waited for a response from OPS.

"Roger that, Callen." Eric responded. "Captain Wright had been contacted and has a team in route to the fire to deal with any contamination. After Mrs. Monroe and her daughter are secure, Hetty wants the team to meet him at the location of the fire."

"Understood. We'll be back in about thirty."

* * *

Granger and Hetty were both at the boat shed when the team arrived.

"Hello. I'm Owen Granger. I'm assistant director of NCIS."

"I'm Herietta Lange. OPS Manager for NCIS. Can we get you ladies anything?"

Both women shook their heads. Hetty walked both ladies over to the sofa and asked them to have a seat.

Hetty returned to the group and picked a case up off of the table. She opened it, presenting the contents to the team. "These are automatic syringes. Twist the top and push the button. A needle will extend and inject Biperiden into your system. If you have to use them be sure to aim for your heart. We are not going to take chances. If you are exposed to Sarin gas, use these immediately. Understood?"

Everyone nodded their heads.

Granger motioned for the team to come closer. "Captain Wright and a team from Dugway are at the fire. They are supervising the firefighters and local HAZMAT. It's still burning so we aren't sure what's there yet, but preliminary results show the fire is hot enough to consume the chemicals without emitting dangerous by products. It has already been decided that the wife and daughter will be reported as having died in the fire. From here an NCIS tactical team will move them to a safe house. You guys get down to the fire. Let us know what you find."

"Right." Callen answered. With that the team turned and left the boat shed.

Granger turned, walking over to stand behind Hetty as the mother spoke to her.

"He told me to turn this over to the authorities. I guess you can make use of it." Christie handed Hetty a USB drive.

Hetty took the drive from Christie, handing it directly to Granger. He slipped the device into this pocket and quickly left the boat shed heading for the Mission.

* * *

As Granger entered OPS he pulled the USB drive out of his pocket, setting it on the table in the center of the room.

"Miss Jones? Christie Monroe was given this drive before her husband started a fire to help them escape and to destroy the weapon he had been building." This got both Eric's and Ashley's attention. "We don't' know what's on it, but could you please let me know if it is anything useful."

Nell picked the device up off the table, plugging it into a nearby workstation. The device opened on the screen showing a series of files.

"It looks like we have a series of pictures and spreadsheets." Nell began tapping the large wall screen to bring up the pictures. "The pictures look like they were taken with a lap top or cell phone camera. The lighting is really bad."

"He probably took them with the computer he was using to create the weapon. His captors never thought about disabling it." Ashley added.

"The spread sheets look like inventory of the chemicals he had and what he had and had not used, along with measurements of how much Sarin gas he had made." Nell stepped closer to the screen reading the spreadsheet. "Something here doesn't look right. Some of these aren't using all the compounds. A lot of this isn't Sarin gas. It's not anything really. It looks like he only created a very small amount of the actual toxin."

Granger nodded his head. "He was buying time. They probably tested the first few batches he made to be sure it worked. Probably tested on animals so no one would notice. When they stopped testing, he stopped making the real thing. He was just buying time to get his family free. Then he set the fire to free them and destroy everything. I hope his plan worked, otherwise there is a small group of fanatics running around LA right now with a chemical weapon."


	3. Distant Thunder

**I appreciate everyone reading this story, but I'm wondering if I should keep going with it given real world events. I'll wait and see what everyone's response is. Please, drop a review.**

**Oh, sorry about chapter titles. They don't exactly describe the chapters, but I've sorted gotten taken with the whole 'building storm'.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own NCIS:LA.**

* * *

"You guys work fast." Captain Wright shook the hands of Callen, Kensi, and Deeks.

"They came to us. We didn't do anything." Sam answered.

"Got farther than we did." Wright admitted.

"Would have been better if we had saved the father." Kensi added.

"Caught the terrorist as well." Deeks finished.

Captain Write motioned to a man walking up to the group. "This is Dr. Henry Saks. He is leading the containment team. Doctor, these are agents Callen, Hanna, Blye, and Deeks from NCIS."

The doctor nodded his head at each agent then turned to Captain Wright. "From measurements we've taken, the blast pattern, and statements from first responders this was a detonation, most likely from military grade explosives. Also, there was an accelerant used to make the fire burn hotter and longer. Matt did this. He made sure that the explosion brought the pressure wave into the building causing a collapse. Then he insured the fire consumed the chemicals. The only problem is, even when the fire is out, the extensive damage will hinder our ability to determine if anything is missing."

Callen didn't like it, but felt the question had to be asked. "You don't believe this might have been done by the terrorist? To make us feel safe while they transport the weapon to target."

"That would be a possibility if I hadn't seen readings of the fire's temperature. For the completed gas you only need about 1500 Centigrade. The components need much higher temperatures. The fire burned at the necessary temperature for the individual components, not just the completed gas."

"That makes me feel better." Sam admitted.

"We still don't know if they got away with any of the completed weapon though." Captain Wright pointed out. "This is still an active terrorist threat until we can prove otherwise."

Sam's phone rang. "Yes."

"Mr. Hanna. Mrs. Monroe had a USB drive that was given to her by her husband before they escaped. On the drive were pictures and a complete inventory of the components he had on hand. Ashley is sending this information to everyone's phone now. Please have the members of Captain Wright's group see if they can identify them. We are currently running facial recognition, but nothing has come up yet."

"Will do Hetty."

With that Hetty cut the connection.

Sam checked his phone to be sure the pictures and documents were coming across. "I think I have something that will help you. Apparently, the doctor gave his wife a USB hard drive. On the drive was a list of the components stolen and used." Sam handed the phone to Dr. Saks.

Dr. Saks looked at the list. "Damn. Matt was slick. Most of the components he put together didn't do anything. He created inert gas. He did create a small amount of Sarin gas, but nothing close to what he had material for. At least now we know what we are looking for. As soon as the last of the fire is out we can try and inventory what's left." Dr. Saks looked up from the phone. "We have to proceed with the belief that some small amount of Sarin gas is in the hands of terrorist and in the open."

Captain Wright took the phone from Dr. Saks and flipped through the pictures. "Son of a bitch! That explains the security leak. These guys are members of the group that tipped us off about the weapons in the first place. They helped us go in to secure it." Captain Wright handed the phone back to Sam. "We brought the damn weapon in to the country for them. They just waited to grab it and use it."

Callen pulled out his phone. "Eric. Are there any cameras around here? Ok, anything close. Look for anything leaving this area about the time of the explosion. Whatever you find, let me know. Thanks." Callen looked around at the group. "We assume that some of them got out. They will be leaving this area. There aren't cameras on this building, but there are cameras in the area. We know the people we are looking for, so that's running in our favor."

With little else to do the team waited for the last of the fires to be put out. As that point Dr. Saks team began inventorying what they could find. Twenty minutes later Callen's phone rang. "Go Eric." Callen hit the speaker button.

"Just after the explosion two cars, a blue Honda Accord and a Chevy full size van, both leave the area at a high rate of speed. They were moving south heading for the interstate. Kaleidoscope just tracked both vehicles to a house in the valley "

Wright pulled out his phone and tapped the screen. "This is Medicine Man actual. I need immediate priority tasking for two Darkstars for the LA valley. Contact NCIS LA, bring them into the feed. They can give pictures of the vehicles and last known location." Wright put the phone back in his pocket.

Sam was smiled. "Two Darkstars with a phone call? I'm impressed."

Wright just grunted. "With chemical weapons lose, I'll send tanks down Sunset and have Apaches do gun runs on the business district if necessary."

* * *

"Wow, these guys are quick." Ashely hit some keys on her board to bring up the live feed from the two aerial drones now over LA.

"I just sent them the location and the pictures of the car and van." Eric said, letting out a whistle. "These must the latest generation. The optics are much clearer and the infer-red is definitely cutting edge."

"Have they made it to the location yet?" Hetty said as she entered the room.

"Not yet Hetty." Nell fielded the question. "They are about to make the first past to identify the target, after that, if the target is confirmed, they will enter an orbit around the location."

"What's the height?" Hetty asked.

"Hard to say." Ashley tilted her head to look at the screen. "The optics are so good it looks like they are only a couple of hundred feet, but they have to be high enough so they can't be heard."

Granger entered the room. "Are they armed?"

"No sir. Captain Wright can't get authorization to fly armed drones inside the continental United States. Not even on a black op like this." Nell answered.

"Damn. We could just do the house right now and walk away." Granger commented.

"Wouldn't that release the gas?" Eric asked.

"Not with Hellfires, but even if it did, we would have a better chance of minimizing the destruction rather than send agents into a shootout where they get exposed or one of the terrorist escapes." Granger took a close look at the infer-red feed. "Five people in the house? That means at least four killed in the explosion at the warehouse, assuming that the house was empty before they arrived."

"The question is, Owen, what are they going to do now?"

* * *

Captain Wright along with his team and the group from NCIS stood around a TV screen at the make shift command tent set up at the warehouse.

"That's the location the cars were tracked too." Callen said pointing at the screen.

"Warm bodies inside." The Sargent in charge of the reaction force commented.

"Alright. Everyone in MOP gear. We are going to hit this target now. We roll out in ten." Captain Wright turned to the NCIS group. "I really appreciate the help, but I would feel much better if just my team went in."

Callen threw up his hands. "Hey, we are hard chargers but chemical weapons are nasty things. It's your show and you have the gear. You don't mind if we follow to the staging point though, do you?"

"Not in the least. You are the guys that got us this far. Now if you will excuse me, I've got to get ready." With that, Wright walked over to his team and began preparing for the raid.

* * *

"There are only about a million ways this thing can go completely wrong." Sam slid the Challenger in behind the tactical van."

"You have a better idea?" Callen had been thinking the same thing.

"Other than striking the house with A-10 attack aircraft armed with laser guided bombs? No." Sam admitted.

"I'm not sure that's a better idea. Besides, a lot of innocent people could get hurt delivering that much ordnance to a crowed city. That's not your style." Callen looked at his friend.

"A lot more innocent people are going to get hurt if these idiots use Sarin gas in a crowded city."

* * *

"This can go wrong in so many ways." Kensi looked at Deeks as he drove, unknowingly echoing the thoughts of her teammates in the car in front of them.

"Yeah. I always assumed there was some sort of standard failsafe protocol in situations like this."

"Like what?" Kensi was curious to what he thought would happen.

"Like you see in the movies. The 3rd infantry division rolls in and shuts down the city. Every house and person gets searched one by one. Anyone who runs is arrested."

"You watch too many movies, Deeks. You know that would cause panic in most people and hostility in others. Not to mention the fact that when everything was over the legal and political ramifications would be horrific."

"Maybe, but it all seems like a small price to pay when weighed against the loss of thousands of lives."

"Then we just have to make sure it doesn't happen."

"One day our luck is going to run out."

"Yes, but until then we just keep trying." The tactical van, two SUVs and Challenger pulled over to the side of the street around the corner from the target house. Deeks pulled the Charger in behind Sam. "Well, this is our stop." Kensi opened the door and climbed out of the car.

As they exited the car, Sam and Callen came to the back of the Challenger, opening its trunk. Sam pulled out Callen's vest, handing it to him, before pulling out his own.

"I thought we were just watching this one?" Deeks looked at the senior agents somewhat confused.

"We are." Sam fastened the Velcro of the vest on both sides before reaching back into the trunk to retrieve his thigh holster and rifle. "However, these being extreme circumstances, G and I thought it would be better to be safe than sorry."

"Right." Deeks turned to go retrieve his equipment from the car. Kensi quickly followed. As the two put on their vest and grabbed their rifles, Deeks moved the syringe from his pocket and put it on his vest.

"Have you ever used one of these things?" He looked at Kensi. "I mean, stabbed yourself in the heart with a needle like this?"

"No and I would prefer that we not do it today either." Kensi said as she adjusted the sling for her rifle. Kensi shut the trunk and they walked back toward Callen and Sam.

The team watched the tactical group lead by Captain Wright assemble outside the mobile command and prepare to move toward the house. The large group used the house on the corner to hide their movements as they approached the target house from the side. As they reached the yard, they split into two groups, one headed for the front door and the other heading to the back yard to enter from the rear.

As they were lining up to make entry into the house Eric came on the NCIS communication net.

"Guys, we still have the feed from the drones. Two cars just pulled U-turns behind you. They circled around the block and are coming from the other direction. One of the cars just stopped. Four people got out and they are armed. They are cutting through the back yards. The first car is still moving toward the front of the house from the other end of the street. I don't have comms with Captain Wright's team. You have to warn them."

"Dammit!" Sam yelled sprinting toward the tactical van. He pulled open the doors and pulled a radio out of the charger while the three people in the back just stared at him. He keyed the button on the radio. "Captain, you have inbound hostiles. Four cutting through the back yards from the opposite direction. Also a car coming to the front of the house from the same direction. They are armed. NCIS is still monitoring the drone feed."

One of the techs in the van hit several keys on the keyboard in front of them changing two of the screens to show the video feed from the drones. "Shit. Sir, they are closing fast. You should assume the people inside the house have been warned also. "

Over the radio Sam heard Wright yelling. "Grab cover. We've been made. Hostiles from the north." The next thing Sam heard was the very recognizable sound of an AK47. Sam turned around jumping back down out of the van. He saw Deeks, Kensi, and Callen jumping into the Charger.

"What are you doing?" Sam said running to the passenger rear door.

"If necessary, I'm going to ram the other car." Deeks yelled. "Besides, I hate running into a fire fight." Deeks hit the gas, accelerating around the corner. As the street came into view the team saw the hostile car in the middle of the street, with three occupants moving toward the front of the house. The front half of the strike team was hiding inside the garage of the home. It was obvious that someone had used a grenade to open the door. Deeks drove toward the car in the street until the gunmen looked at him. He spun the car out in the street with the passenger side holding Kensi and Sam facing the hostiles. The windows were rolled down so Kensi and Sam put their M4s out the window and began firing. That sent two of the gunmen to the ground with fatal wounds and drove the last to cover.

"Come on Deeks." Callen yelled jumping from the car and heading for the garage.

Deeks turned to Kensi and Sam. "You guys alright."

Kensi didn't look away from the car where the last gunman was hiding. "I'm good. Sam?"

"I'm good. Waiting for this guy to put his head up." About that time a head popped out from behind the corner of the car's bumper. Sam depressed his trigger. "Got him. We secure the car, go with G." Sam opened his door and left the car.

As Callen and Deeks reached the exploded door they saw several wounded members of the strike team.

Deeks made the call to OPS. "Eric, we need a bus. Several of them in fact. Get them rolling."

Callen looked around, they were all very painful, but only one looked threatening. "Where is everyone else?" He asked one of the wounded.

"They had to go ahead with the entry. They started shooting through the door when we came through the garage door."

"Callen! Deeks!" Kensi's voice exploded across the comms. "Hostiles are coming out the front door." Everyone heard the chatter of the AK47 from the front yard followed by responding pops from M4 rifles. "They are trying to get to the cars."

Deeks and Callen looked through the hole in the garage door and then back at the wounded men in the garage. If they tried to emerge from the whole in the door they would be sitting ducks for anyone approaching the cars in the driveway. The other problem was they were like fish in a barrel if the gunman started shooting through the garage door into the garage. Callen slung his weapon, kneeled, and lifted the wounded man from the floor heading for the house. Deeks helped another man with a leg wound from the floor and headed for the door to the house. The other three individuals, though wounded, were mobile.

"They are coming this way. We have to find cover." Deeks yelled to them. The three men leveraged themselves up and moved toward the house.

"What's the situation?" Callen asked into the comms.

* * *

Kensi and Sam were crouched down behind the front of Deeks's car when they heard Callen's question.

"Not good." Sam replied.

Kensi looked around the front bumper of the car when the rifle fire stopped. She watched as five individuals from the house, one carrying a large overnight bag piled into an older Crown Victorian in the drive way. Kensi remembered being surprised she could hear the car start after all the gun fire. "They made the car, Sam, they are pulling out."

Both Sam and Kensi stood up, leaning across the hood of the Charger to stabilize their weapons and opened fire on the car as it backed out of the driveway. The back window of the car disintegrated under the withering fire. One of the gunmen attempted to turn around to aim an AK at the duo, but was cut down before he could bring the rifle to bare. As quickly as the car had started accelerating out of the drive way it began to slow down. As it reached the street is was barely moving and slowly bounced over the curb on the opposite side of the street coming to rest in a neighbor's yard.

Sam and Kensi reloaded their rifles, pointed them at the stopped car and slowly approached. Sam took the lead with Kensi following closely behind. As they reached the car, Sam peered in through the shattered window. He immediately turned and began running. "The container is leaking."

Kensi needed no encouragement. Both raced back to the Charger. Sam reached into his vest pocket, pulled out the injector, and ripped off his vest. "We've been exposed Kensi!" With that he pulled the cap off the needle, jammed it into his chest, and pushed the plunger.

"FUCK ME!"

Kensi followed his actions and did the same.

"SON OF BITCH!"

Both fell to their knees, rolling to their backs as the drugs took effect.


	4. Lighting Strike

**Time to move things along. Besides, I have to save my two favorite characters.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own NCIS:LA.**

* * *

Callen and Deeks heard their teammates yells from outside, not to mention through the comms. They were both headed for the front door when more weapons fire came from the rear of the house. Both men turned raising their rifles as they did.

"Eric, what's going on?" Callen asked.

"The group approaching on foot from the rear has opened fire on the team out back. It looks like several people are down. There is also fire coming from the rear of the house. The team is caught in a crossfire. The gunman in the house have just exited. It looks like six individuals. They are all moving back up the block toward the parked car."

Callen didn't like the idea of leaving Sam and Kensi but they couldn't let the group get away.

"Sam? You alright?" Callen called out over the network.

A cough answered Callen's question. "The containment group is here. They are taking care of things."

"Kensi?" Everyone could hear the worry and concern in Deeks voice as asked the question.

"Yeah. We're good. Go get'em partner." Kensi statement was followed by another cough.

Without another word Callen and Deeks checked their weapons and headed for the back door. As they reached the threshold the sight that greeted them was grim. Three more men were down, one of them fatality. Wright and two other members were giving chase to the fleeing gunman.

"We'll never catch them on foot." Deeks said, watching the men disappear in the distance.

"We'll take the Challenger." Callen took off toward the car parked around the corner.

"The Challenger? Sam's gonna kill us." Deeks ran after Callen.

It only took moments for the car to roar to life. Deeks barely had the door closed before Callen accelerated away from the curb.

"Eric! Which way?" Callen yelled.

"Turn around. They car will be crossing the street you are on in a minute."

Callen slammed the brakes while turning the wheel. Deeks placed his hands on the dash to steady himself. "You drive worse than Kensi."

Callen straightened the wheel as the car completed it's 180 in the middle of the street. "That's just mean."

The Challenger roared down the street. Callen was moving so fast he almost T-Boned the fleeing sedan full of terrorist. He slammed the brakes and cranked the wheel right to pull in behind them. The sedan attempted to accelerate away but Callen wasn't about to let that happen.

"Shoot them." Callen screamed.

Deeks just looked at Callen. "We are in the middle of a neighborhood, G. You want me to open fire with a rifle from a moving car?"

"Chemical weapons." Answered Callen, never taking his eyes off the road.

"Right." Deeks pulled his weapon from the slung position between his knees and maneuvered the weapon out the window. He didn't even get the rifle pointed at the fleeing gunmen before the back window of the sedan shattered. Both agents ducked instinctively, knowing that someone had just shot out of the back window of the car from inside. Several bullets pounded into the front grill of the Challenger and two hit the windshield.

"Son of a bi…" Deeks's last word was drowned out by his return fire as he put his rifle out the passenger door. He saw his bullets impact on the trunk of the car and toward the back window. He cringed as return fire came back towards the Challenger.

The sedan took a hard right, skidding around a corner, out of the neighborhood and onto a main road. Shots continued to come from the back of the car, but Deeks was less inclined to return fire given the traffic on the street.

"I think I saw this scene in 'Bad Boys 2'." Deeks said as be braced himself while they skidded around another corner at high speed.

"I was always partial to the driving in 'Ronin' myself."

Both agent's ducked as another blast of fire came at the car, followed by a loud bang, and white smoke pouring out from under the front of the car. As the Challenger slowed to a stop they watched the sedan full of terrorist speed away.

"Damn it." Callen pounded the wheel. He put his finger to his ear. "Eric, tell me the drone is still following them."

"We have one following them now. The other is still at the house."

"We are going to need someone to pick us up and to get the Challenger. It took a bullet and died." Callen stated matter-of-factly, like he wasn't worried about Sam's reaction when he found out.

"How are Kensi and Sam?" Deeks tried to hide the worry in his voice, but he wasn't doing a very good job.

Ashley fielded the question. "They are in decontamination now. They took the shot immediately and the chemical experts say it wasn't aerosolized yet, so they are in the clear. They had to take their comms as well, so we aren't in contact with them right now."

Callen took one look at Deeks's face and made a decision. "Forget pickup. We will foot it back to the house. Just get the car."

* * *

It took Deeks and Callen twenty minutes to get back to the house. They found Dr. Saks and Captain Wright standing out front. They decided to start with them.

Dr. Saks saw them approach. "They are fine. The Sarin was in liquid form and they didn't not come in direct contact with it. They don't have any symptoms. Trust me when I tell you that if they had been affected, it would show by now. They are sitting in the back of the ambulance over there." Dr. Saks pointed a little ways down the street.

Deeks didn't say another word, simply head toward the ambulance.

"What happened?" Wright asked as he turned to Callen.

"We gave chase. They opened fire out the back window of the car. Trashed out the engine of the Challenger. Eric said that the drone was still following."

"It was, until they entered the flight path of LAX. Drones had to pull off to avoid collisions with landing aircraft. FAA said it was an emergency landing. Smoke in the cabin." Wright explained.

"How are your men?" Callen asked.

"The ones in the garage are at the hospital. One is critical and in surgery. You guys saved them. I owe you for that. Two fatalities from the group that hit us from behind. We've got seven dead hostiles though. Means that there was already a group here before the ones we were following arrived. The sole bit of good news appears to be that all the Sarin is accounted for. The amount in the car is the amount Dr. Monroe's figures show being made."

"Still got dedicated fanatics in the open though." Callen was still mad about them getting away.

"Yeah. Yeah we do." Wright turned to look at the scene around him. "Go check on your people Agent Callen. I need to do the same thing. I'll catch up with you in a little bit."

"Yeah." Callen walked off toward the ambulance.

As he came around the back of the ambulance he saw Deeks sitting on the bench inside next to Kensi. Sam was sitting on the bumper.

"Nice outfit." Callen pointed at the bright yellow plastic suit Sam was wearing.

"It's the latest in anti-terror fashion." Sam dead panned.

"So you really shoved that giant needle into your chest?" Callen shivered a little at the thought.

"Without a second thought. Fear is an excellent motivator."

Deeks and Kensi stepped down out of the ambulance. "Now what?" Deeks asked.

Kensi responded first. "I would like to get some real clothes."

"Head back to the Misson." Callen answered. "Wright is already looking for the guys who escaped out the back. Eric and Ashley have been watching the drone feed, but they headed for the airport so the drones lost them."

"How many?" Sam asked.

"Four or six. This was obviously what they were using for their headquarters. The house is filled with weapons. The good news is that all the chemical weapons material is now accounted for. The bad news is that we still have heavily armed terrorist running around the city. Let's head back."

Sam turned to Deeks. "Give us a ride to the Challenger?"

Deeks and Callen exchanged a look. G fielded the question. He clapped Sam on the back. "Buddy, the Challenger is dead. We used it to pursue the fleeing group. They shot it up with an AK and blew the engine. It's being picked up and taken off for repairs."

Sam just looked at G. "You know, normally that would be bad, but given that I just survived a chemical weapon attack, I'm willing to let it ride."

The group headed to the Charger that was still in the middle of the street. As they approached, Deeks noticed the bullet holes for the first time. "Damn. Another car. Hetty is going to kill me."

"It could always be worse Deeks." Kensi said, absent mindedly rubbing the injection site on her chest.

Deeks quickly sobered. "Right."

Everyone climbed into the car to head back to the Mission.

* * *

As she walked into OPS, Kensi's hair was still damp.

"Another shower?" Sam asked. "Your skin doesn't still burn from the decontamination chemicals?"

"That's why I took it. I smelled like the cleaner aisle at the grocery store and the lotion made my skin feel better." Kensi walked over to stand beside Deeks.

Deeks decided to break a cardinal rule of Kensi's, but he couldn't take it. "Are you sure you're OK, Kens?" Deeks braced himself for her response, but at least he would know how she was doing.

Deeks and Kensi were both leaned back against the table, so she slid her hand down the edge of the table until she grasped his fingers. "I'm good Deeks." She smiled softly at him to let him know that, unlike she would have reacted even a year ago, she was not upset about his public concern for her. "I promise."

Deeks squeezed her hand and nodded.

"I still can't believe you injected yourself with those needles." Callen shook his head.

"It was Sarin gas, Callen. You would have done the same thing." Kensi replied.

"I think I would have risked the gas." Callen shivered. "Using a needle that long on myself, no way."

"We are all very glad that you did use it, Agent Blye. Agent Hanna." Hetty nodded at each one. "Your quick action has ended the immediate threat of a chemical attack to the city. However, we still have a group of very well armed terrorist lose."

"Were the drones able to identify the men that escaped?" Sam was hoping that they would get lucky.

"Sorry Sam, we didn't have control of the drones and they were kept on station when it was announced the container was breached."

"So what do we have?" Sam continued.

"We have the process of elimination." Eric added. "After identifying the bodies at the warehouse and the safe house we have eliminated all but three of the individuals pictured on Dr. Monroe's hard drive. Those three individuals have been identified as members of a rebel faction in the Syrian civil war. They were thought to be a pro-western group, but that was just a front to befriend American forces. The first man here is a former Colonel in the Syrian army. His name is Mustafa Mero. He approached allied forces about the location and amounts of chemical weapons. The other two men, Yusaf al-Azmah and Bashir Azmeh, served under him. It now appears that they aligned themselves with a radical terrorist group when the civil war began. They used the American military to secure and transport the weapons to American soil, as well as secure transport for their people here. The records of the other individuals involved in the operation are being pulled now. We should be have the other members of the cell identified in the next few hours."

"Do we have any idea where they may be heading?" Deeks carefully studied each photograph.

"Captain Wright is questioning the surviving members of the cell now, but it's doubtful that they know anything. The members in charge either died fighting or are part of the group that escaped." Granger responded.

"We are looking." Hetty made sure to look each agent in the face. "The primary plan has been successfully stopped. Now they are either working a backup plan or they are playing it by ear. Either way it leaves us at a distinct disadvantage."

"Do we know what the original target or targets were?" Callen asked. "They would most likely go after the same target, they just have to hit it differently. They pick the targets for symbolism. What presents the biggest symbolic target?"

Granger turned to Eric and Ashley. "What are the big events going around the area? Start with military/patriotic events and move out from there."

"That won't be necessary." Hetty called out. "Senator Danforth is having a rally tomorrow at the convention center. He, Representative Hollens, Representative Andrews, the Governor, and several state legislators will be giving speeches and stumping for election. Between their presence and the size of the crowd, it would be the perfect target."

"What makes you say that?" Callen asked.

"The crime scene photos from the house." Hetty walks over to the screen and swipes through some of the photos. "See, here is the invite and information about the gathering." She moves her hands to enlarge the picture. "It appears they have tickets to the event. I don't believe they are part of the election campaign or registered voters."


	5. Downpour

**A month? Wow. I'm sorry. I didn't realize how much time had passed. I got stuck. I don't remember how many times I've redone this. I sort of lost the story. I think I have it back now and I will do my best to get this done in a timely manner.**

**Comments will be most welcome. Several of them put me back on track this time.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own NCIS:LA.**

* * *

As everyone filed out of OPS Ash followed Callen down the stairs. As he hit the bottom landing, she grabbed his hand and led him toward the gym. The rest of the team had the good sense to act like they didn't see it happen.

After getting inside and making sure it was empty, Ashley wrapped her arms around him and pulled him close. "I'm so glad that you are alright."

Callen was surprised by the sudden action but recovered quickly. He wrapped his left arm around her back and ran his right hand through her hair. "I'm fine. We are all fine."

Ashley looked up at him. "I know you do this all the time and you are used to it, but I'm still new to the whole imminent danger thing. I'll try to cope better but right now I would like it if you would just hold me."

Callen tightened his arms around Ash. "You don't have to get used to it."

Ash pulled back suddenly like she had been slapped. "Are you breaking up with me?"

Confusion rolled across Callen's face. "What? No. Not at all. I'm just saying that I will hold you when you need me to. You don't have to be strong about things like this all by yourself."

Ash placed her head back on Callen's chest and snuggled in. "Oh. Well, ok then."

The two stood there for several minutes. "Eventually we are going to have to go back to work." Callen pointed out.

"Yeah, I know." Ash sighed.

"Two more minutes?" Callen suggested.

"Two more minutes." Ash agreed.

* * *

Hetty and Granger walked into the bullpen. The team were at their desk, but were more waiting for the next shoe to fall, than doing any real work. Everyone looked up as they walked in.

"I've spoken with the Senator. The entire event has been cancelled. It is being blamed on a gas leak at the convention center. That will keep individuals from showing up at the event even though it has been cancelled." Hetty informed everyone.

"While I understand the reasoning, it does leave us with nothing." Granger pointed out. "With the initial weapon and target gone, we have no idea what they will do next."

"Maybe they will just bail. Take this as a sign, leave, regroup, and try again later." Deeks offered.

"Not likely." Kensi responded.

"Yeah, I know. I can hope though." Deeks responded.

"So, what next?" Sam asked.

"We wait." Callen stated flatly.

That's when Eric came flying down the stairs. As soon as he hit the landing his shrill whistle cut through the air. Everyone turned to face him. "You all need to see this. Now." Without waiting for any sort of response he turned and bounded back up the stairs.

Callen and Sam both headed for the stairs followed by Kensi and Deeks. Hetty and Granger followed at a distance.

"I'm too old to go sprinting up stairs." Granger groaned.

"Speak for yourself Owen." With that Hetty started taking the steps two at a time.

Granger was the last to enter OPS. Everyone was standing around the table waiting. With a nod from Hetty, Nell began the briefing.

"This video was sent to command at Dougway Proving Grounds ten minutes ago. It's not pleasant." Nell tapped her data pad twice and a video appeared on the wall. The head terrorist stood, staring straight at the camera. "You may have stopped this attack but you have not stopped us." He motioned to someone off camera. As two men were dragged on screen, curses could be heard throughout OPS. There, on screen, were Captain Wright and Dr. Saks. "We will first take revenge on those who got in our way and then we will continue our mission." At that moment he pushed both men to the ground, pulled their heads back by their hair, and slit their throats. After that the screen went blank.

"Son of a bitch!" Sam screamed. He picked up a data pad, hurling it against the wall. It shattered into a million pieces upon impact.

Granger turned to look at Eric, Nell, and Ashley. "Find anything you can off of that video." Granger asked, almost too nicely, trying to control his voice. "Anything that will help us find that location."

"How did they get to them?" Callen asked.

Nell answered the question. "They disappeared when they went to the hospital to visit the injured members of the team. The search was just getting underway when this showed up at the proving grounds."

Hetty turned when she heard Ashley on the phone.

"Hey Marcus, its Sam. I need a favor." Ashley looked up as Hetty approached her. "Yes, you do owe me. I need the last location of the secure devices in use by a Navy Captain Wright and USAMRID Dr. Saks. They were last known to be somewhere in LA." Ashely was silent a moment. "If I wasn't cleared, would I be calling on a secure line asking about classified information? Exactly. Sure. Just send them to me at the normal address. Thanks." Ashley hung up the phone.

"Aren't you full of surprises?" Hetty commented.

Ashley did her best not to be embarrassed. "Well even though the NSA can't crack secure military comms, I have a friend in DIA. He in part of the secure communication system used by all the armed forces. They monitor the location of the devices. He will send the information as soon as he has it."

"Good work Miss Walters."

"Ok, here it comes." Ashley turned to Eric. "Eric, I'm about to send you some coordinates. It's the last location that the secure phones that Captain Wright and Dr. Saks transmitted from."

Eric to the coordinates and punched them into the system. "Coming up on the screen now."

Sam watched the screen scroll to a location just outside of downtown. He pointed at the location. "Is that it?"

Eric nodded his head.

"Let's move." At Callen's order everyone headed for the door.

Sam hit the first landing and stopped. "Everybody gear up before leaving. We don't want to get caught flatfooted. These guys know our tactics. This could be a trap."

Callen just looked at Sam in disbelief. "You think?"

"Just for that, I'm driving." Sam turned and headed for the armory

* * *

As the Porsche swerved onto the street, Callen grabbed the dashboard. "Why are you driving?"

Sam didn't take his eyes off the road. "Because you got my car shot up."

"So now you are going to wreck my car?" Callen asked as Sam swerved around slower traffic.

"Maybe."

Following behind, Kensi was chasing after the Porsche trying to keep up.

Deeks was holding onto the handle on the roof of the car. "You think Sam is trying to wreck the Porsche on purpose because of the Challenger?"

Kensi swerved around more traffic to keep up. "The thought crossed my mind."

It only took minutes to get to the location of the last signal from Captain Wright's phone. Sam and Kensi both pulled over to the curb and stopped. Everyone jumped out of the cars.

Callen pulled out his phone and contacted OPS. Ashely picked up.

"This is the spot?" Callen asked without introduction.

"Yes. That is the last location the phones gave. We are back tracking through footage of the area now to see if anything pops out."

Callen cut the connection and turned to the team. "This is it. They are going through the footage from cameras now.

"Fan out!" Sam yelled.

"What exactly are we looking for?" Deeks asked as he began looking around the area.

Sam just shook his head in frustration. "I don't know. It's time to get lucky."

Deeks turned around and began looking around the street and sidewalk. "Luck hasn't exactly been in our favor as of late." He hadn't heard Kensi walk up behind him.

"I don't know, we did stop a chemical attack without being exposed ourselves. I would call that pretty lucky."

"You have a point, but do you really think lighting will strike twice." Deeks turned to look at her and noticed she was wandering off the side walk and toward the street. As she reached the curb she bent down and pulled out her rubber gloves.

"Yes." Kensi picked up what appeared to be a destroyed cell phone. "Yes, I think it will." Kensi pulled her phone out of her back pocket. "Ash, I've got a destroyed phone here. It has government property markings on it. It's on the south side of the street about 20 yards from the east end."

* * *

Back at OPS Ash and Eric were both pounding away at their keyboards.

"Got it." Eric yelled as he pointed at his screen. "This van right here. Watch the passenger window."

As the van moved down the street a small object came flying out the window, hit the ground and skidded to the curb. "The phone." Ashley said as she watched the video.

"Yep. Now we just do the Kaleidoscope search for this van. It may take some time, but at least it's something."

"Better tell the team." Ash said.

Eric tapped in Callen's number. "Callen. We have a van ditching the phone a couple of hours ago. We are doing a search for it now. It may take some time, but at least it's something.

* * *

"Thanks Eric." Callen put his phone back in his pocket and made a motion for everyone to gather round. "That was Eric. They have a van on video throwing that phone out the window a couple hours ago. They are doing a search for where the van went now."

"So we wait?" Sam asked. He didn't mean for the question to come out so confrontational but to say he wasn't happy was a severe understatement.

"Yes. We wait." Callen answered evenly. "Running around aimless doesn't help anything and we are at least close to where they were. If we go running aimlessly around the city we could be miles away from them when Eric and Ash find the van."

Sam just nodded his head. "Right. Right. Sorry G."

"Not a problem. We are going to get these guys Sam. We are."

"I just hate waiting around."

The team searched the area for the next twenty minutes but didn't find anything else. That's when Eric and Ashley called back. Callen picked up on the first ring.

"What have you got?" He put it on speaker so everyone could hear.

"The van is about forty minutes away. We are sending you the coordinates. It's another neighborhood on the outskirts of the city. It's a tiny neighborhood so they are going to notice extra people showing up, so be careful."

Even though he knew she was concerned about the whole team, Callen couldn't help but feel that those last words were meant specifically for him.

"Aren't we always?" He looked around at the grimaces from the rest of the team and amended his statement. "Right. Careful." With that he ended the call. "First we are going to make sure there is something there. After we have a positive ID we call in the military."

Everyone shook their heads in agreement.

"How do you want to approach?" Kensi had pulled out her phone and was looking at an overhead of the area. "Ashley wasn't joking when she said the area is sparse. We are going to stick out like a sore thumb.

Deeks was standing shoulder to shoulder with Kensi looking at the overhead. "What about right here?" He pointed to a place a little to the north of the neighborhood. "That looks like a hill. We can come up behind that and then watch the house from there."

Kensi nodded her head in agreement as she zoomed in on the hill. "Yep. That sounds like a good idea. Take the high ground, limit our exposure, and observe from a distance."

"Let's go." Sam immediately headed for the driver's seat of the Mercedes.

"Great. Looks like I'm still playing passenger." Callen walked over and got in the car with Sam.

Kensi turned to Deeks. "Come on Shaggy."

* * *

Forty-five minutes later the team were squatted down in brush on a hill several hundred yards from the neighborhood containing the house they were looking for.

Deeks lowered his binoculars. "Well the vans still there. They can't possibly have killed both men here and stayed."

Callen lowered his monocular. "This is just the last location that the van was found. It's possible that the murders were done elsewhere and then they came here."

"We don't know how many people are in there? That didn't work so well for us last time." Kensi added.

"Well, we've got to go in. We won't get anywhere sitting up here." Sam pulled out his phone. "Time to call in the containment group."


	6. Bright Sunshine

**I appreciate everyone who stuck with this story. Somewhere in the middle it sort of came apart on me. I'm sure it was easy to spot. If I write another one, I'll finish it before I publish. You deserve a complete, well thought out story.**

**Still, please leave comments. I certainly need inspiration and constructive criticism.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own NCIS:LA**

* * *

To Sam it seemed like it took hours for the containment group to arrive, but in reality it was only about forty minutes. Not bad considering the location and the fact that such a large number of people and equipment had to arrive covertly so as not to spook the target.

With the death of Captain Wright, Lieutenant Commander Marcus Nelson had taken over the task force. He was the one to approach the team. He nodded at each of them in turn before addressing Callen.

"What do we know?"

"About as much as we knew when we hit the last place, except this time there are no chemical weapons involved. That's about the only upside." Callen handed Nelson a pair of binoculars. "It's been quiet since we arrived. We were going to do recon, but didn't want to spook them. That and we were almost assuredly out gunned."

Nelson surveyed the area carefully. "If this was anywhere else besides the United States, I would call in artillery and we would go down to count the pieces when it was all over. Unfortunately, that's not an option here. We are going to have to go force on force."

"Move in ten?" Callen asked.

"Sounds good." Nelson responded.

"Might want to wait on that guys." Everyone turned to Deeks, who was looking through his own set of binoculars. "There is an SUV pulling up in front of the house. And a large group of very bad looking bad guys. With guns."

"These guys are really starting to piss me off." Sam growled.

"More terrorist? How the hell did this many get into the country?" Kensi wondered aloud.

"We let them." Nelson responded. "Vouched for them even. This is completely on us."

"They are mounting up. If we don't get moving, we are going to lose them." Deeks stood up and started heading for the car.

"Relax agent." Nelson said pulling out his phone. "This is Magic Man. Is Dark Star on station?" Nelson nodded his head when he received the answer and ended the call. "We now have a UAV on station and tracking. Now we can follow from a discreet distance. Allows us not to be seen but we can catch up quick if they pull that stunt at the airport."

* * *

It didn't take long for everyone to get mobile. By the time the team was back on the road, the feed from the drone had been wired back to OPS.

Everyone in the room was glued to the high resolution feed on the screen.

"They certainly seem to be in a hurry." Ashley commented. "I wonder if this is an escape or an attack?"

"We will have you thinking like an analyst in no time." Granger commented. "This looks a lot like a bug out. They are going around downtown and are moving at a high rate of speed. If they were up to something they wouldn't do anything to draw attention to themselves."

Callen voice filled OPS. "Where are they and how far behind are we?"

Nell answered the question. "They are still on the interstate moving at a high rate of speed. You are about two miles behind. We will keep you updated on any changes."

Hetty took a step toward the screen, putting her hands behind her back as she watched the fleeing terrorist. "Where are you going?"

"They're getting off." Eric said and began typing away on his computer. "I'm already looking for locations that they could possibly be going to. We are still assuming they are running, right?"

"Yes." Granger responded.

"There isn't much out there. Warehouses. Business parks. A switching yard for the rail road. Ah-ha. And a two runway airport."

"If they are trying to bug out, that's where they are headed." Nell stated.

"Send it to the team, Mr. Beale." Hetty said never turning from the screen.

* * *

"Right, got it." Callen hung up his phone. "They are moving toward a small airport. OPS is pretty sure that's where our bad guys are headed. It's the only thing out here that makes sense. They are about four miles from it and we are a mile behind that. Eric and Ashley are going through records and flight plans now, but they haven't found anything yet." Callen pulled the radio out of the console and relayed the information to Nelson's team.

Callen had barely put down the radio before his phone sounded again. "Go Ash." He was quiet as he listened. "Thanks." Callen put down the phone. "There is a charter flight set to leave in 10 minutes headed for Mexico."

"We are going to need some air support in case they get airborne." Kensi responded.

"DHS and the Air Force have already been alerted. They are pulling assets but they won't be here for at least 20 minutes. We've got to do our best to keep this plane on the ground."

Sam floored the car and everyone was thrown back in their seats.

* * *

"Planes moving." Deeks said as the car slid into the turn for the small airfield.

"No kidding." Sam responded as he turned the car toward the runway.

"Sam you cannot ram a Lear jet." Callen said after looking at Sam and then at the plane.

"Do you have a better idea?"

"Yeah." Deeks yelled. "Not ramming it."

"A better idea that keeps the plane on the ground." Sam retorted.

"No." Deeks said bracing himself in the backseat. "Not an idea that does that."

Sam skidded the car out onto the runway as the Lear started its takeoff roll.

"Only going to get one shot at this." Callen said. "Make it count."

Sam never took his foot off the gas as he gained on the accelerating jet. He knew from this angle that the car couldn't be seen so he didn't have to worry about being spotted. His only worry was that it would get airborne before his could reach it. His plan was to collapse one of the rear landing gear. If he hit it while still on the ground, not doing take off speed, damage would be minimal. If he it while lifting into the air, it would crash onto the car and kill everyone.

The plane was getting larger and larger in the window and he lined up on the right rear landing gear. "Everyone, hang on!" He screamed.

From the backseat he heard Deeks yell. "This is going to hurt!"

At that moment, the front of the car hit the landing gear, causing the gear to buckle and send the plane into a spin and slide, pulling the car along with it, having been caught under the wing when the gear collapsed.

The plane and car came to a stop several hundred feet off the side of the runway.

* * *

"Oh my god!" Ashley exclaimed as everyone in OPS watched the car impact the plane. It seemed like it took the plane and car forever to stop sliding.

"I hope all the sparking doesn't ignite the fuel tanks." Eric's eyes were glued to the screen, so he did not see the hand coming that caught him squarely in the back of the head.

"Shut up." Nell growled as she nodded her head toward Ashley, who was quickly going from deathly pale to a sickening green.

"Sorry." Eric looked so sad with the puppy dog eyes, Nell had to resist the urge to rub the spot on his head that she had just nailed.

Granger hit the button on his ear piece. "Agent Callen? Agent Hanna?"

* * *

Everyone was getting their bearings when Deeks spoke. "Oww!" Deeks kicked open his door.

"Stop whining." Kensi said as she opened her own door.

"I will admit, this probably wasn't my best idea, but it did work." Sam pulled himself from the driver seat.

"We are all little dinged up, but no worse for wear." G answered the call he heard from Granger over the comms. He was hoping that his voice would reassure Ashley as well. He couldn't imagine that she had taken seeing the crash well. G didn't say anything as he climbed from the car, but start laughing softly.

"What's so funny G?" Sam was a little irritated.

"You have to explain this wreck." G answered.

Sam groaned. This was the third car this mission had consumed and this one he had done deliberately. Hetty was not going to be pleased.

"Guys? Terrorist." Kensi said shaking her head.

"Right." G pulled his rifle from the car. They team was on the opposite side from the aircraft's door and none of the emergency exits had been used.

"Everyone be careful." Sam said has be brought his rifle to his shoulder.

As the team moved around to the opposite side of the aircraft, the response team vehicles arrived on scene. Nelson was the first to clear a Humvee. "Everyone alright?"

"So far." Sam answered. "They are still bottled up inside the plane."

Nelson motioned for two of his men to run up the wing of the plane that was on the ground to look in the windows. The two SEALs slowly made their way up the wing, weapons pointed at the windows they were approaching. They made it without incident and peered into the plane.

"Everyone is out on the floor. I've got no movement." The lead SEAL said.

"Stay there." Nelson said. "If anything moves, shoot it through the window."

"Roger that."

The team, having just survived a car-plane crash, let the military pull the door open and enter the plane. Surprisingly after the events of the following days, the jet entry was easy. Everyone, including the pilots were the worse for wear from the impact. They got thrown around the cabin pretty bad not having benefit of airbags. The terrorist, true to form, hadn't been wearing seat belts.

Nelson stuck his head in the cabin after the terrorist and pilots were removed. He turned to Sam. "I'm glad you rammed the plane. They are armed for bear. Had we shown up any earlier the shootout that would have occurred would have made the incident at the house look like airsoft."

"What about the guys back at the hangar? This isn't all the people that were at the house." Callen pointed out.

"The rest of the team has them. They were so busy watching you guys and trying to get to the cars to flee, they didn't grab the heavy weapons. The team cut them off before they could double back to them." Nelson walked over to the Humvee, setting his rifle inside, then pulling out a bottle of water. "This mess is finally over. We lost good men, friends, but we stopped the deaths of millions."

"Doesn't seem right to chalk it up as a win." Sam said.

"I'm just happy not to have to chalk it up as a total loss." Nelson responded.

"Well, looks like you have it under control, we will leave you to it." Callen held out his hand.

Nelson shook hands all around. Callen turned to leave and stopped dead in his tracks. He turned back to Nelson. "Anyway you guys can give us a ride?"

Sam cringed a little at the statement.

* * *

The team got dropped off at the boat house. From there they took one of the cars in the lot back to the mission. As they entered the Mission Hetty, Granger, Nell, Eric, and Ashley were all waiting at the bottom of the stairs for them.

Callen could see Ashley take a slight step forward, in what appeared to be a first step toward rushing toward him, but stopped herself at the last moment. He smiled. He wasn't sure whether it was because she was so worried about him and he finally had someone like that, or because she was so torn between being the worried girlfriend and the professional. He strode over directly to her and pulled her to him, ending her indecision.

"I hate close calls." Ashley said as she held him.

"It wasn't that close." Callen tried to deflect her concerns.

"That's not what the drone showed." Nell answered.

Kensi looked at Nell. "So you saw the wreck from the drone? Did it look as bad as it felt?" Nell handed over her tablet to show her a replay.

"Ouch!" Deeks exclaimed from over Kensi's shoulder. "No wonder I'm so sore."

Granger finally spoke. "Good work agents. Just like always."

"Yes, very good work." Hetty added. "However we are going to have a talk about transportation and destruction of property."


End file.
